Nationwide characteristics of infectious disease patients transported by helicopter ambulance in Türkiye

To evaluate the clinical, demographic, and operational characteristics of patients with infectious diseases transported by helicopter ambulance and to examine differences in the transfer patterns, flight durations, and diagnostic categories.

Registry data of patients with infectious diseases transported by helicopter ambulance were analyzed. Demographic characteristics, diagnoses, referring and receiving hospital types, intraprovincial and interprovincial transfer status, flight durations, and temporal distribution of transfers (hours, days, and months) were evaluated. Flight duration was calculated in minutes and compared between intraprovincial and interprovincial transfers.

A total of 543 patients with infectious diseases were transported by helicopter ambulance. Respiratory tract infections were the most common diagnostic group, followed by coronavirus disease 2019. Of the patients, 72.9% were transported within the same province, while 27.1% were transferred between provinces. The overall median helicopter flight duration was 63 min (interquartile range (IQR): 45-87). Interprovincial transfers had significantly longer flight durations compared with intraprovincial transfers (median: 115 min (IQR: 63-222.5) vs. 57 min (IQR: 41-71); p < 0.001). In multivariable analysis, patients diagnosed with meningoencephalitis were more likely to be transferred to interprovincial centers (odds ratio (OR): 4.77; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.26-18.07), whereas patients with sepsis (OR: 0.11; 95% CI: 0.03-0.48) and skin and soft tissue infections (OR: 0.08; 95% CI: 0.01-0.93) were more commonly managed with intraprovincial transfers.

The findings indicate that helicopter ambulance use for patients with infectious diseases is applied through a selective and needs-based approach. In time-critical and high-risk infections such as meningoencephalitis, helicopter ambulance transport appears to be an important component of the healthcare system by facilitating access to appropriate referral centers. Differences between intraprovincial and interprovincial transfers suggest that air ambulance utilization is determined not only by distance and geography but also by the need for specialized care and advanced treatment capabilities.